The Hero in Epic of Gilgamesh and the Iliad
'One and the same lot for the man who hangs back and the man who battles hard. The same honor waits for the coward and the brave. They both go down to Death, the fighter who shirks, the one who works to exhaustion.' (IX,385-88)
Thus muses Achilles, one of epic poetry's greatest heroes. Epic poetry, one of the earliest forms of literature, began as an oral narration describing a series of mythical or historic events. Eventually, these stories were written down and read aloud to an audience. Although the Epic of Gilgamesh was composed approximately fifteen hundred years prior to the Iliad, the heroes of both epics possess strikingly similar characteristics. Indeed,
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His friend Enkidu expresses this when he states, "Your strength surpasses the strength of men." (20). Achilles, on the other hand, is a famous warrior, feared by many, who the Achaians depend on to win the war. Even his enemy, Agamemnon, recognizes Achilles' strength when he declares, "That man is worth an entire army, / the fighter Zeus holds dear with all his heart --" (IX, 141-42).
Although they are each strong, courageous and "favorite sons" of the gods, Gilgamesh and Achilles share the same tragic flaw: overweening pride. Gilgamesh must prove his strength and superiority by being first with the women and by physically overpowering the men. The elders of his kingdom suggest that he is unbearable when they mutter, "His arrogance has no bounds by day or night" (14). And Achilles' anger at Agamemnon and his hurt pride only serve to escalate the conflict during the Trojan War. Due to Agamemnon's mistreatment of him, Achilles refuses to fight stating, "I swear, a yearning for Achilles will strike / Achaea's sons and all your armies! . . . Then-- / then you will tear your heart out, desperate, raging/ that you disgraced the best of the Achaeans" (I, 281-87).
Another quality that the two heroes share -- and that softens their strong characters -- is loyalty to a friend. Gilgamesh is so embittered by the death of his friend Enkidu that he risks his life "crossing over the waters of death" in an attempt to bring Enkidu
Every mythological hero seems to be on a journey in search of the thing he desires most in the world. The two heroes who stood out to me were Gilgamesh, and Achilles. Gilgamesh’s greatest fear was death, while Achilles feared his legacy being lost and forgotten. Technically their desires are different, but their journey share many similarities, and in the end, boils down to the same thing. Each man in his own way, both Gilgamesh and Achilles desired immortality above all else. Though immortality takes on very a different meaning for Gilgamesh, as it does for Achilles, every decision as well as all the sacrifices they make, are based on their fear of death and dying.
Gilgamesh is not a completely flawed character; he possesses, and obtains through his adventures, many positive qualities or virtues. For example, he is courageous. This virtue is evident during his battle with Humbaba. This forest giant is a fearsome adversary, aided by the gods, with a considerable size and strength advantage. Defeat of Humbaba takes the combined efforts of Gilgamesh and Enkidu. To succeed, Gilgamesh had to gain the courage to undergo this task. Enkidu rallies his friend by saying, “O Gilgamesh, remember now your boasts in Uruk. Forward, attacks, son of Uruk, there is nothing to fear.” (Sandars 20) With this, Gilgamesh’s “courage railed” (Sandars 20). He defeats and eventually kills Humbaba for which he is subsequently praised.
Achilles the main character shows the excessive pride trait severally. Agamemnon offered to return Briseis to Achilles with other gifts. He even offered to swear that he never slept with her, but Achilles refused everything. Achilles’ remarks to the emissaries showed his disinterest in material things, however; the only thing that mattered to him was an honor. The following quote demonstrates this trait from the poem: “Ajax, son of Telamon in the line of Zeus, everything you say is after my own heart. But I swell with rage when I think of how the son of Atreus treated me like dirt in public as if I were some worthless tramp. Now go, and take this message: I won’t lift a finger in this bloody war.” (230. 667-678). Achilles refusal to participate in the war games due to his excessive pride results in the death of a lot of Achaeans, including his friend
Achilles’ attitude continues on for so long, and they are so desperate, that that Ajax feels the need to call him out for it: “Achilles - / he’s made his own proud spirit so wild in his chest, / so savage, not a thought for his comrades’ love - / we honored him past all other by the ships. / Hard, ruthless man…” (The Iliad 9: 766-769). Ajax is also a strong-willed character, but here he rejects the notion because he is well aware of the situation between the Trojans and Greeks.
Back in the days of ancient Greece and before this time, epic heros have had their lives chronicled and the stories of them passed on from generation to generation, all the way to our present day in our lives. Two of the greatest heros that have been expressed in past epic stories were Gilgamesh from the epic named after him, and Achilles from Homer’s Iliad. The two of their stories however, transpired in two different eras, their lives both had a surprising number of common points. Of course with things in common, there always comes differences, in the way they lived and the ideals they believed in.
The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey both are held in high respect by literature analysts and historians alike for the characterization of the hero and his companion, the imagery brought to mind when one of them is read, and the impressive length in relation to the time period it was written in. The similarities that these two epics share do not end with only those three; in fact, the comparability of these works extend to even the information on the author and the archetypes used. However, The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh contrast from one another in their writing styles, character details, and main ideas. Both epics weave together a story of a lost man who must find his way, but the path of their stories contrast from one another.
The almighty Achilles is a tremendous warrior however he is also seen as being self-conscious, he lacks integrity to his pride. Achilles is part of a raid on a Trojan allied town. He captures a woman named Briseis and Agamemnon, the army commander, captures Chryseis. After a plague on the Achaeans caused by the capturing of Chryseis, Agamemnon returns her and in return demands Briseis. Achilles becomes very upset and acts on his pride. He threatens to leave the army and not join in battle. Achilles decides to make a speech making his decision on going to battle. Before doing so he makes sure that it is known he is not making a decision just because of his business with Agamemnon. He says “Mother tells me, the immortal goddess Thetis with her glistening feet, that two fates bear me on to the day of death. If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, my journey home is gone, but my glory never dies. If I voyage back to the fatherland I love, my pride, my glory dies.” (Bk. 9, lns, 498-505) Achilles has a lot to weigh out he has issues with Agamemnon and has his future foreseen. The decision he has to make is truly between life and glory. This is his true test of his arête. He is
Achilles was given a gift, the gift of being the best warrior there was, and being the son of a goddess didn?t hurt his confidence either. Achilles had more than confidence he was cocky and thought that the world revolved around him. In his mind nobody, including the Achaean army could survive without him. When an argument occurs between him and Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and leader of the Achaean army,
In The Iliad warriors tend to avoid other warriors out of respect for their abilities to fight. When Hector issues a challenge to all of the warriors on the side of Achaeans, everyone is reluctant to accept his challenge because of the respect associated with Hector. This idea that you gain respect from being a successful warrior is displayed here when Achaeans are losing, they decide the way to shift the battle into their favor to ask for the help of Achilles. Even warriors carry a hold of respect within themselves which simply shows their value in their
Achilles is the most powerful hero in “The Iliad” poem and has a close relationship with gods. But with this inhumane strength, Achilles is an over pride warrior who cannot control his rage if his pride was hurt. Aristotle’s statement represents Achilles’s characteristics through Achilles’s strength and pride. The Achaean warrior, Achilles, has a super strength and was considered as the most powerful warrior in the Achaean army.
Although Achilles was known for his fearless, quick-tempered, strong and an extreme master of warfare he fights with rage that began with the clash between Agamemnon The Greek warlord—and godlike Achilles (pg.129 lines 7-8). The argument starts with Agamemnon dishonoring Chryses who went to Agamemnon with a ransom of great fortune for his daughter.
The pride of both men makes them act in ways in which a humble man would not. Agamemnon’s pride becomes so great that he calls out Achilles, “…I shall come to your tent and take your own prize Briseis, that you may learn how Breeden 2 much stronger I am than you are, and that another may fear to set himself up as equal or comparable with me" (“The Internet”). The detail of both men’s lack of reason and conceitedness enable modern day readers to deduce that the noble human trait of pride when in excess was a demise of any man in the ancient Greek world. It can be argued that this view point of pride is still believed today in the modern
Achilles demonstrates his pride in many different situations throughout the Illiad. The first example can be seen in the beginning of the story when Achilles’ war prize, Briseis, is taken away from him. His pride is hurt not only because of the taking away of a woman he is fond of, but his pride takes a hit because of Agamemnon embarrassing him in front of the other warriors which leads to Achilles withdrawing himself from the Greek army. Without the greater warrior in the Greek army, Agamemnon swallows his pride and offers Achilles three gifts. Shortly after, the pride of this great warrior is shown when he rejects the gifts of Agamemnon because of the damage done in the beginning of the
In the battle between Hector and Achilles, there was more on the line than winning the war. Until the end of the poem, it can be argued that both Achilles and Hector fit the role of an epic hero, but there can only be one. The battle represented who would ultimately be determined the epic hero. In Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Achilles is crafted into an epic hero throughout the poem by the illustration of the qualities of an epic hero: a great warrior, help from the supernatural, an epic flaw, and an epic journey.
An individual’s worth in that era was evaluated by his ability to fight in a battle, Achilles was the second most honorable person of the Achaean army just because he was excellent with a sword and a great military leader. Achilles was able to criticize Agamemnon, just because he knew that while all of the army was fighting, Agamemnon used to stay behind and not participate in the fighting to be safe. Achilles says to Agamemnon in line 177, “How could an Argive soldier obey your orders, freely and gladly do your sailing for you or fight your enemies, full force?” Here Achilles questions the merit at which Agamemnon calls himself a king, as a king is supposed to be fearless and should be able to defend himself, unlike Agamemnon. Such was the significance of military skills and leadership in that